“He just gave me so much assurance, every time I was with him,” the reality star, 25, said. “I kind of came in saying, ‘You know, I don’t believe in love at first sight.’ Just having the first night go the way it did, I think that’s the closest I’ve ever come to that sort of feeling.”

Heringer made history this year by becoming the first deaf contestant on the Bachelor franchise.

“Abigail is one of our favorites. This is an absolute gem of a woman, impossible not to fall in love with,” Chris Harrison said while announcing the season 25 cast in December via YouTube. “Abigail has an incredible story; she’s the first hearing-impaired person we’ve ever had on the show. [She] is just beautiful and sincere, the true definition of someone here for the right reasons.”

In the Women Tell All clip, the Oregon native talked about her unprecedented role on the show.

“I was really scared kind of when I decided to come on,” the financial manager said. “I think people kind of view the hearing community and the deaf community … as black-and-white, and I’m kind of that gray space, because I don’t use sign language and am able to communicate vocally. I had no idea how people were going to receive me, but no, the response has been incredible.”

The Linfield College alum has been “blown away” by the public support she’s received since the show aired. Though she was eliminated in week five, the first impression rose recipient has many fans rallying behind her and calling for her to become the next Bachelorette.

“I was surprised she was willing to share her story about her hearing loss,” Heringer’s mother, Suzie, told the Statesman Journal in October 2020. “It’s something she usually doesn’t talk much about. … With her disability, if that can impact one other person, it’s worth sharing the story.”

The Bachelor: Women Tell All will premiere on ABC Monday, March 1, at 8 p.m. ET.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Sophia Vilensky